First Trust Announces Trading Halt of Shares of QSPT and YSEP on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.

First Trust Advisors L.P. (“First Trust”) announced today that it has requested Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the “Exchange”) to temporarily halt the trading of shares of FT Cboe Vest Nasdaq-100^® Buffer ETF – September (ticker: QSPT) and FT Cboe Vest International Equity Buffer ETF – September (ticker: YSEP) (together, the “Funds”) from 8:30 a.m. Central time today, Monday, September 20, 2021. The request was the result of the identification of operational issues that would prevent the Funds from creating or redeeming shares on the primary market. The halt will be effective until further notice published by First Trust.

For more information about First Trust, please contact Ryan Issakainen at (630) 765-8689 or [email protected].

About First Trust

First Trust is a federally registered investment advisor and serves as the funds’ investment advisor. First Trust and its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P. (“FTP”), a FINRA registered broker-dealer, are privately held companies that provide a variety of investment services. First Trust has collective assets under management or supervision of approximately $213.5 billion as of August 31, 2021 through unit investment trusts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, mutual funds and separate managed accounts. First Trust is the supervisor of the First Trust unit investment trusts, while FTP is the sponsor. FTP is also a distributor of mutual fund shares and exchange-traded fund creation units. First Trust and FTP are based in Wheaton, Illinois. For more information, visit www.ftportfolios.com.

About Cboe Vest:

Cboe Vest is the creator of Target Outcome Investments^®, which strive to buffer losses, amplify gains or provide consistent income to a diverse spectrum of investors. Today, Cboe Vest’s Target Outcome Strategies^® are available in mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), unit investment trusts (UITs), collective investment trusts (CITs), and customizable managed accounts / sub-advisory services. For more information about Cboe Vest and the evolution of Target Outcome Investments, visit www.cboevest.com or contact Linda Werner at [email protected] or 703-864-5483.

You should consider the funds’ investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before investing. Contact First Trust Portfolios L.P. at 1-800-621-1675 or visit www.ftportfolios.com to obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus which contains this and other information about the funds. The prospectus or summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Risk Considerations

A Target Outcome fund has characteristics unlike many other traditional investment products and may not be appropriate for all investors.

Investors buying or selling fund shares on the secondary market may incur customary brokerage commissions. Market prices may differ to some degree from the net asset value of the shares. Investors who sell fund shares may receive less than the share's net asset value. Shares may be sold throughout the day on the exchange through any brokerage account. However, unlike mutual funds, shares may only be redeemed directly from a fund by authorized participants in very large creation/redemption units. If a fund’s authorized participants are unable to proceed with creation/redemption orders and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, fund shares may trade at a discount to a fund’s net asset value and possibly face delisting.

A fund’s shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in a fund. One of the principal risks of investing in a fund is market risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular stock owned by a fund, fund shares or stocks in general may fall in value. There can be no assurance that a fund’s investment objective will be achieved. The outbreak of the respiratory disease designated as COVID-19 in December 2019 has caused significant volatility and declines in global financial markets, which have caused losses for investors. While the development of vaccines has slowed the spread of the virus and allowed for the resumption of "reasonably" normal business activity in the United States, many countries continue to impose lockdown measures in an attempt to slow the spread. Additionally, there is no guarantee that vaccines will be effective against emerging variants of the disease.

In managing a fund’s investment portfolio, the portfolio managers will apply investment techniques and risk analyses that may not have the desired result.

There can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained.

The investment strategy is designed to deliver returns that match the reference asset if a fund’s shares are bought on the day on which a fund enters into the Flexible Exchange Options® (“FLEX Options”) (i.e., the first day of a Target Outcome Period) and held until those FLEX Options expire at the end of the Target Outcome Period. If an investor does not hold its fund shares for an entire Target Outcome Period, the returns realized by that investor may not match those a fund seeks to achieve. In the event an investor purchases fund shares after the first day of a Target Outcome Period or sells shares prior to the expiration of the Target Outcome Period, the value of that investor’s investment in fund shares may not be buffered against a decline in the value of the reference asset and may not participate in a gain in the value of the reference asset up to the cap for the investor’s investment period.

A new cap is established at the beginning of each Target Outcome Period and is dependent on prevailing market conditions. As a result, the cap may rise or fall from one Target Outcome Period to the next and is unlikely to remain the same for consecutive Target Outcome Periods.

A fund that effects all or a portion of its creations and redemptions for cash rather than in-kind may be less tax-efficient.

A fund may be subject to the risk that a counterparty will not fulfill its obligations which may result in significant financial loss to a fund.

As the use of Internet technology has become more prevalent in the course of business, funds have become more susceptible to potential operational risks through breaches in cyber security.

A fund may invest in FLEX Options that reference an ETF, which subjects a fund to certain of the risks of owning shares of an ETF as well as the types of instruments in which the reference ETF invests. Because a fund may hold FLEX Options that reference the index and/or reference ETFs, a fund has exposure to the equity securities markets. The FLEX Options held by a fund will be exercisable at the strike price only on their expiration date. Prior to the expiration date, the value of the FLEX Options will be determined based upon market quotations or other recognized pricing methods. In the absence of readily available market quotations for fund holdings, a fund’s advisor may determine the fair value of the holding, which requires the advisor’s judgement and is subject to the risk of mispricing or improper valuation. There can be no guarantee that a liquid secondary trading market will exist for the FLEX Options and FLEX options may be less liquid than exchange-traded options.

A fund may be a constituent of one or more indices which could greatly affect a fund’s trading activity, size and volatility.

Stocks with growth characteristics tend to be more volatile than certain other stocks and their prices may fluctuate more dramatically than the overall stock market.

Large capitalization companies may grow at a slower rate than the overall market.

Mid capitalization companies may experience greater price volatility than larger, more established companies.

Large inflows and outflows may impact a new fund’s market exposure for limited periods of time.

A fund classified as “non-diversified” may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. As a result, a fund may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence affecting one or more of these issuers, experience increased volatility and be highly concentrated in certain issuers.

Securities of non-U.S. issuers are subject to additional risks, including currency fluctuations, political risks, withholding, the lack of adequate financial information, and exchange control restrictions impacting non-U.S. issuers.

A fund and a fund's advisor may seek to reduce various operational risks through controls and procedures, but it is not possible to completely protect against such risks.

The use of derivatives, including options can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the underlying asset, index or rate, which may be magnified by certain features of the derivatives.

If, in any year, a fund which intends to qualify as a Registered Investment Company (RIC) under the applicable tax laws fails to do so, it would be taxed as an ordinary corporation.

If the underlying ETF experiences gains during a Target Outcome Period, a fund will not participate in those gains on a one-to-one basis or beyond the cap. In the event an investor purchases fund shares after the first day of a Target Outcome Period and a fund has risen in value to a level near to the cap, there may be little or no ability for that investor to experience an investment gain on their fund shares. Similarly, in the event an investor purchases fund shares after the first day of a Target Outcome Period, the buffer a fund seeks to provide may not be available. A shareholder may lose their entire investment.

Trading on the exchange may be halted due to market conditions or other reasons. There can be no assurance that the requirements to maintain the listing of a fund on the exchange will continue to be met or be unchanged.

The information presented is not intended to constitute an investment recommendation for, or advice to, any specific person. By providing this information, First Trust is not undertaking to give advice in any fiduciary capacity within the meaning of ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code or any other regulatory framework. Financial professionals are responsible for evaluating investment risks independently and for exercising independent judgment in determining whether investments are appropriate for their clients.

First Trust Advisors L.P. is the adviser to the funds. First Trust Advisors L.P. is an affiliate of First Trust Portfolios L.P., the funds’ distributor.

Cboe^® is a registered trademark of Cboe Exchange, Inc., which has been licensed for use in the name of the funds. The funds are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or marketed by Cboe Exchange, Inc. or any of its affiliates (“Cboe”) or their respective third-party providers, and Cboe and its third-party providers make no representation regarding the advisability of investing in the funds and shall have no liability whatsoever in connection with the funds.

The fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Invesco QQQ Trust^SM, Series1, Invesco, or Nasdaq, Inc., (together with their affiliates hereinafter referred to as the “Corporations”). The Corporations have not passed on the legality or suitability of, or the accuracy or adequacy of, descriptions and disclosures relating to the fund or the FLEX Options. The Corporations make no representations or warranties, express or implied, regarding the advisability of investing in the fund or the FLEX Options or results to be obtained by the fund or the FLEX Options, shareholders or any other person or entity from use of the Invesco QQQ Trust^SM. The Corporations have no liability in connection with the management, administration, marketing or trading of the fund or the FLEX Options.

MSCI EAFE ETF, BFA, or MSCI Inc., (together with their affiliates hereinafter referred to as the “Corporations”) have not passed on the legality or suitability of, or the accuracy or adequacy of, descriptions and disclosures relating to the fund or the FLEX Options. The Corporations make no representations or warranties, express or implied, regarding the advisability of investing in the fund or the FLEX Options or results to be obtained by the fund or the FLEX Options, shareholders or any other person or entity from use of iShares MSCI EAFE ETF. The Corporations have no liability in connection with the management, administration, marketing or trading of the fund or the FLEX Options.

Target Outcome Investments and Target Outcome ETF are registered trademarks of Cboe Vest Financial.

Target Outcome Strategies is a trademark of Cboe Vest Financial.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210920005915/en/